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GAME NOTES: The Notre Dame Fighting Irish have dominated the Seton Hall Pirates in recent years, and those two teams will meet this evening in Big East Conference action from the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

Notre Dame has played well lately, winning its last two outings to improve to 17-7 overall and 6-5 in league play. On Sunday, the Fighting Irish treated the home crowd to a 65-62 victory over South Florida, and they are now 15-2 in South Bend. On a down note, they are a mere 1-4 in true road games heading into tonight's affair.

As for Seton Hall, its respectable 12-9 overall record is overshadowed by a 3-7 mark versus Big East opponents. The Pirates have suffered three consecutive defeats, including a lopsided 83-58 setback at Pittsburgh last Saturday. Of the 12 wins the team has managed this season, 10 have come at home.

Notre Dame owns a 15-7 series advantage over Seton Hall, which includes six straight wins over the Pirates.

The Fighting Irish have played 24 games thus far, and Luke Harangody has been the team's leading scorer 18 times. The rugged power forward is averaging 24.5 ppg to go along with 10.1 ppg, and he is a leading candidate for Big East Player of the Year honors. Tim Abromaitis has emerged as a solid second scoring option for the Irish with his 16.5 ppg on the strength of 48.6 percent accuracy from three-point range. The third and final double-digit scorer in the fold is Ben Hansbrough with 11.8 ppg on 45.1 percent shooting from behind the arc. Notre Dame is generating 79.4 ppg while permitting 71.3 ppg to opponents. Harangody came through with 19 points and 15 rebounds against USF last weekend, and Tory Jackson contributed 18 points. Hansbrough scored 13 points for the Irish, who turned the ball over only eight times and earned a 17-10 edge in points from the foul line.

Jeremy Hazell is clearly the go-to guy at the offensive end for Seton Hall, as he is netting 22.0 ppg. Herb Pope provides 11.8 ppg and 10.9 rpg for the Pirates, and he has blocked a team-high 39 shots. SHU is scoring 81.0 ppg while holding foes to 74.4 ppg, but the positive scoring differential is not reflected in the poor conference record. Against Pittsburgh in the most recent outing, Seton Hall shot a disappointing 35.7 percent from the floor, which included a 4-of-14 showing from three-point range. The Pirates were outrebounded by a 39-30 margin and struggled at the defensive end, permitting the Panthers to connect on 51.7 percent of their field goal attempts. Eugene Harvey netted 12 points in defeat, while Jamel Jackson and Robert Mitchell posted 11 points each. Hazell finished with just two points in 32 minutes, his worst effort of the season by far.

Give the edge to the road team tonight, as Harangody will dominate the paint as usual. Three-point shooting will help fuel the Fighting Irish as well.